xiv, 594 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : 24 cm

"A new edition of Humphrey Burton's celebrated biography of Leonard Bernstein, published to coincide with the centenary of his birth. With a new introduction by the author. Composer, pianist, author, television teacher, Harvard lecturer, cultural icon, humanist and conductor without peer, Leonard Bernstein's versatility was legendary. He captivated Broadway with such hits as On the Town and West Side Story and introduced middle America to classical music with his Young People's Concerts on television. He composed three symphonies and a full-length opera, and he inspired the world's leading orchestras to give some of the most memorable performances of the twentieth century. Humphrey Burton was given exclusive access to Bernstein's rich legacy of letters and papers, and the book draws on hundreds of interviews with family, friends and colleagues to reveal Bernstein's fascinating and complex personality. His compelling narrative captures Bernstein's high-spirited vitality on the page, providing a frank account of his homosexuality and his marriage and chronicling the lifelong conflict between the rival claims of Bernstein's conducting and composing careers"--Publisher's description

Originally published: London: Faber, 1994

Includes bibliographical references (pages [542]-578) and index

New introduction / by Humphrey Burton -- Prologue: The funeral -- Part one--The education of an American musician : 1918-1943. Beginnings ; Family life ; The provincial boy grows up : 1932-1935 ; Harvard ; Broader horizons ; New York, New York! ; The Curtis Institute : 1939-1940 ; Tanglewood : 1940 ; Finishing touches ; Tanglewood revisited : June 1941-August 1942 ; The New York bohemian ; Overnight sensation -- Part two--Rise to prominence : 1943-1951. The Jeremiah Symphony and Fancy Free ; On the Town ; The first American conductor gets his first American orchestra ; Finding his way ; The conductor as messiah ; The man from another world ; History-making days ; The end of the first conducting career ; Rites of passage -- Part three--Something's coming : the composing years : 1952-1957. Return to show business ; Diversionary tactics ; From La Scala to Broadway ; Candide ; West Side Story -- Part four--The New York Philharmonic era : 1957-1969. The heir apparent takes command ; Music director at the New York Philharmonic ; To Russia with love ; Last years at Carnegie Hall ; A kaddish for a president ; The conquest of Vienna ; End of an era -- Part five--Coming apart : 1969-1978. Radical chic ; Professor Bernstein ; Crises and catastrophe -- Part six--Anything but twilight : 1978-1990. Toward A Quiet Place ; Royal progress ; The living legend ; Final days : August-October 1990

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